Support racks are typically mounted on the exterior of a motor vehicle to support bicycles, minibikes, skis, surfboards, and the like, above the ground. Rear-mounted racks are constructed of rigid frame members, having arms extending horizontally therefrom for supporting objects, and they are usually mounted on the rear bumper of the vehicle, or on the trunk lid, or a combination of both. Several racks have also been developed for use on the top of a vehicle. These racks are usually held by straps extending to the rain gutters or door recesses of a vehicle.
While these support racks have been somewhat adequate for their purposes, they have several drawbacks. Because the rear-mounted racks are fixedly mounted on the rear of the vehicle, the racks themselves restrict access to vehicles having rearward-opening doors, tailgates, or lift gates, such as sport/utility vehicles, vans, pickup trucks, campers, and the like. When mounted on the rear of cars, these racks may also interfere with the opening of or access to the trunk. Another problem arises with some bicycle racks on the front or rear of vehicles when the bicycles are placed next to each other. The bicycles may contact one another or the vehicle, causing scratched paint, bicycle component damage, or other vehicle or bicycle damage, especially when the vehicle is moving.
The cartop racks, while keeping the bicycles separated, have the drawback of requiring that the article to be transported be lifted on top of the vehicle. This can be quite difficult on a tall vehicle, such as a sport/utility vehicle or van, especially when a heavy or awkward object is to be carried, such as a bicycle. Other drawbacks include extra drag on the vehicle, especially at high speeds; increased effective vehicle height resulting in decreased overhead clearance, a serious problem when entering a parking garage; and marring of the vehicle surface due to contact of the rack and straps.
Several devices have been proposed for overcoming these disadvantages. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,129, issued to Eisenberg et al. on Aug. 23, 1983, discloses a pair of horizontally projecting arms mounted to the crossmember of a T-shaped support member that in turn is pivotally mounted to a vehicle. A substantial drawback to this device is that, as the T-shaped support member is pivoted downward, the pair of arms angle downward, allowing an object supported thereon to slide off. Even if the object were firmly fastened to the support member, it would not be held in an upright position as the support arm is pivoted downward. The device also does not prevent the bicycles from knocking into one another or the vehicle as the vehicle moves and the bicycles swing. Even the contact of the frame with the rack support arms can mar the bicycle paint.
Consequently, there is a need for a support rack that can be mounted to the rear of a vehicle and that not only allows access to the rear doors of the vehicle, but also maintains the objects in an upright separated position so as to not contact each other or the vehicle.